Strange Preferences

I read this on an okcupid profile, and then I realized that I have some strange preferences.

6 Things I can't Do Without
black pants, black cats, black boots, apple phone, apple computer, apples.

"Aw fuck, no, I can't"

Based on how much she likes apple products. Does anyone feel this way or is it just me?

A Steady Flow of Weird

I have been pretty bored lately, I don't know if you've read. I read what's on Google Reader, I spend some time playing games, and I'll fool around on craigslist or OKCupid. I saw an ad last night that I couldn't resist. It was a craigslist posting for a birthday party, just turned 21, anyone between 21 and 25 is invited. I knew I wouldn't be the only one going.

Of course not.

Who could resist an open invitation to a birthday party?

Not me.

The cake wasn't a lie. I went and realized that it was basically what I expected. However, I was the only one that went from craigslist. Actually, everyone there knew everyone else.

Wtf craigslist readers? Total let down on your part, but I had an interesting enough time.

Hello Blog

Hey blog, I guess you're here for this kind of purpose. To keep record of my interpretations and feelings of the situations that I find myself in. I guess being drunk isn't the best way to start a blog post, however, it's at least gotten me to this point. Presented to you in 1st person.

I find myself drinking from a broken glass, and in there lies the ingredients of a Manhattan. It's satisfying. It does the job, and well, it's the only thing I can create with the ingredients I have left. I already finished that bottle of Gin.

My landlord is sitting beside me, telling me how facebook and twitter users are all antisocial and socially inept according to a news post. Approximately 12 hours are spent on facebook by average users he says. I spend about 5 minutes per week I estimate. I don't even try to avoid people anymore. Now it's just that I've got nothing to do on that site besides updating my status and telling a couple of friends what I am up to.

I've done a lot of strange things lately. My posts on craigslist are mainly to blame. I have no inhibitions when it comes to that stuff.

1. I was wondering if I was the only guy in town who isn't studying anything and isn't employed. I doubt this is the case. And if your in my situation, you have a lot of free time and are getting stupid bored.

This is why the league needs to be created. If nothing else, being bored with someone else is better than being bored alone. Hopefully we can get a larger group together and by the power of our atrophied minds we can come up with something worthwhile to do. All are welcome.

Hurry, before I convince myself that a Star Wars marathon, Cheeto stains, and tighty-whiteys are all I need to reach my next goal in life.

2. Do you too have absolutely nothing going on this weekend? Do you frequently find yourself lying in bed, staring at your ceiling, bored out of your fucking mind? Has your search for novelty slowly died with the reality of a working life? Well, I've found just the cure for you!

I am in a position fairly similar as the one just described, and not for lack of activities. I've been here for a few months and am just looking for someone to spend some time with. So, if you've got the free time, then hang out with me.

3. Ever known someone that could lie to you with confidence that you wouldn't think twice about it?

I have, and I'm not trying to sound all dramatic about it. I'm really putting this ad up so that I can get better at lying.

I want to start a relationship with someone, male or female, that's based on lies, or at least some truths between a majority of lies. If you get nervous every time you tell a white lie, then you should message me.

Pretend to be someone else, have a different history, a different life, all for the sake of learning more about what works and what doesn't. I'll be out of Texas in about a week anyways, so it's not like it'll matter.

Yes, I'm out of ideas. Looks like alcohol is the only person to turn to. He serves me well enough. Most definitely a he. So I've come full circle, a bit earlier than expected, but my goal has been accomplished. I forgot to mention that I stopped drinking for more than a month. I no longer craved the drink, but I figured why the fuck not. At least it makes me want to do nothing.

A Moving Mustache

Here is my time lapse from Miami to El Paso. To all those that watch, I appreciate that you've spent the time to see a part of my life like this. It's been an interesting trip and I miss the friends I've left behind.

General Balance and Multiplayer

City Takeover - One thing I was surprised by was my first city takeover. I realized, via inner-monologue, that I could just waltz right into any city and take it over with just one unit. I asked myself, "Wait, you're telling me I can take this place over with one guy, even with the weak, inane merchant over there???" while looking at my 100-strong full-plate armored army. It was a bit surprising, and I find it a bit unbalanced. I think there should be a minimum takeover cost in terms of battle, and I figured with the AI improvements that shouldn't happen.

Pace - I like to care about every turn, which wasn't happening in the later portion of the game when I was established. This is also an issue with AI that will probably be changed, but I would just skip turns to build my city or research, endlessly.

Multiplayer Experience - I tried to play a game online tonight, but to no avail. I couldn't even tell whether or not anyone could read my messages in the lobby #elemental. I could not play 1 vs. Player, or 1 vs. AI, so I can't comment much on it. I'll try later.

That's all for now, I'll comment on the Empire and Event Trees later.

I'm Out Beta'd

I've played this game pretty fervently lately. Here's what I've got to say to the developers. I know Mr. Developer that you're reading a ton of these, so I'll try and make it as dense as possible.

Computer Specs -
AMD Athalon(tm) II X4 620 Processor 2.59 GHz
Nvidia 8800 GTS 640 MB Graphics Card
A790GXH ASRock Motherboard

Very Typical Errors:

DX Error - Invalid Call. Occurs when I alt-tab back into the game every time without fail.

Event - Dark Concoction - Full text can not be seen and I was given the option of Will I ------------------ Incomplete text. I said yes and now I have some awesomely powerful potion that does something, but seems pretty evil. I just have no idea what it is or what I should do with it.

Money issues - Sometimes I'll notice I'll have enough money for a purchase, and I'll agree to the purchase, and it might send me into the negatives.

Things become invisible. If I'm lucky it'll will appear again when I move to a different city and back.

Loaded up an old game: I had no tiles to build on, so I deleted a garden, and replanted one somewhere else, deleted another garden, and it froze. This problem only happened once though.


The HUD: It seems great, I like the openness and the fact that the buttons don't clutter my screen like old school Starcraft does, what with taking up about a fifth of the screen. That said however, I don't find some things intuitive. My city and people tabs in the upper left hand corner especially - About this particular topic: Sometimes my cities will pop up and show their growth, seemingly at random. I don't understand why sometimes it's highlighted and why sometimes it's not. Perhaps it's my lack of understanding.

Another thing I'd like to see more of in the HUD - Going back to the city and people tabs, I would really like to see a rollover text of the name, or keep a name next to it, in fine unobtrusive text. Once I've got 5 cities or so going, it can be a task of going to the one I've been focusing on developing, and to deal with it I find myself going through each city to get back to the one I was looking for.


Gameplay Issues - Grouping characters and attacking big enemies, like the bone golem: It seems like everybody at the farther end of the group gets killed, while some don't even get a scratch. Just seems a big unfair to see General C. chillin' in the back as his soldiers charge a massive golem, leaving him last man standing to give a quick finishing blow and claim all the glory.

I'll be commenting on other portions of the game later. Good luck with the fixes and updates.

Priorities

I know I should probably mention something about the fact that I got a job offer, might be moving to El Paso Texas, might end up as a project manager and supervisor on a military base for at least 8 weeks, but instead I'm going to talk about Elemental: War of Magic. Mmm Magic...

In all my gaming experiences, never have I been so cracked out excited about what is to come with Elemental: War of Magic. I will be testing out the beta and providing the company with my own perspective on how to improve the:

1. The HUD

2. General Balance

3. Multiplayer

4. The Empire & Event Trees

5. Performance, Stability, Bugs

AND YOU CAN PARTICIPATE TOO!!! Just tap the inside of your elbow a few times, pop up a vein, and head on over to http://www.elementalgame.com/ to grab a fix.

Sushi Therapy

Well, this is it. Almost. And not really. I have finals, then I graduate, and then strangely enough I still have classes during the summer. Something keeps telling me in the back of my mind to take the diploma and run. But as the mark of any great ending, there was a celebration, and it was done by my fraternity. I woke up wearing nothing but towels and rope. But I guess that's ok because that's exactly how I showed up. I do enjoy the crazy themed parties. Yes, last night I definitely threw my alcoholic weight around and I'm a little hungover. I'm in search of a cure, so I think sushi is in order, as there is no curry recipe on the Broke Ass Gourmet.com website. I'm off for a sushi therapy session.

P.S. - I think I write better when I'm hungover.

This is Dr. Kibert and Dr. Sullivan's class based on the Green Building Fundamentals for the LEED Green Associate book. I will continue to load up the videos for review, and publish them




Fundamentals for the LEED Green Associate Certification by Dr. Sullivan and Dr. Kibert is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Episode 3

Vid

Tips for Tats

Random Episode

Rainy Days and Garlic Sauce

So I don't know how today is going to go. I have a test today. The teacher said it wasn't on much material, just to read this section. I read the section... but I'm worried. O so worried. And I also start driving for Domino's tonight. That might go well, or otherwise. I'm driving from 5:15 to 3:30 in the morning. Big cash and a fried brain is probably what I'll end up with, although I've always been attracted to the late night crazies I'm likely to deliver to.

In other news, I had the Motherboard I was going to use to fix my computer RMA'ed. It didn't work and I got my money back. I fixed the old mobo instead. Added a better cooler, a more efficient CPU. The thing runs like a champ, and I use voice recognition every once in a while to be super cool.

Well, not much time left. The end is near. Wish me luck.

Tread Water In a Tsunami of Work While Enjoying the Social Life

The subject explains it all. I'm just pissed at my return on time investment with structures.

Dominomologue

The Dominomologue. That's a series I have to start once I start driving for Dominos.

Anyways, I just finished the last of my business plan for Construction Finance. It looks alright I guess. 9 minutes before I eject.

So quickly - I fixed my computer. The mobo came in a little burned so I'm RMA'ing it. Newegg rocks and they set me up on how to do it very quickly.

Also, the Medieval Fair is coming to town. I love that. Me and Jess and hopefully some more people are going to check it out on Sunday. It's a lot like Man Kingdom, just from a different century. Big mugs, wenches, and turkey legs. I almost forgot about the bow and arrows and axe throwing competitions. Sweet.

Got to learn me some finance.

Teacher Just Walked In

Teacher just walked in. Mr. Cook. Is the test take home? God please let it be take home. I can't do it otherwise. I've heard rumors. PLEASE LET IT BE TAKE HOME! I've had enough stress today as it is. O shit shit shit shit come onnnnnnnnn! Give us the test and let us go PLEASE!!!!

Toiletry Testimonials

*pfft*

This is I guess where I have most of my free time. Anyways, here's an update into my life.

It's about to get hectic. Late nights and coffee binges are on the horizon. Why?

I GOT A JOB! WOOT!

Working at Dominos, aside from DJing, is the only thing that can fit my schedule. I'll be delivering fresh hot pizzas to the Gainesville folk, probably 5 days a week on top of my class schedule, night and late night. Can I handle it? We'll see.

But other things have been up. I also got a scholarship! DOUBLE WOOT! From the Huguenot society down in South Florida. Mainly because I like to criticize the Catholic church I guess. But I had to laugh about this little tid-bit I just found out.

A group of Huguenots under the leadership of Jean Ribault in 1562 ended up establishing the small colony of Fort Caroline in 1564, on the banks of the St. Johns River, in what is today Jacksonville, Florida. The colony was the first attempt at any permanent European settlement in the present-day continental United States, but the group survived only a short time. In September 1565, an attack against the new Spanish colony at St. Augustine backfired, and the Spanish wiped out the Fort Caroline garrison.

A group of Huguenots under the leadership of Jean Ribault in 1562 ended up establishing the small colony of Fort Caroline in 1564, on the banks of the St. Johns River, in what is today Jacksonville, Florida. The colony was the first attempt at any permanent European settlement in the present-day continental United States, but the group survived only a short time. In September 1565, an attack against the new Spanish colony at St. Augustine backfired, and the Spanish wiped out the Fort Caroline garrison.

Not that there were a lot of Huguenots in Jacksonville, but that I have never heard of the French winning a fight of their own. *snicker*

Well, I have an 8-10 page business plan to write tonight, prepare for a presentation, and study for an Estimating 2 exam. O yeah, and the ever-present inescapable fear of Structures, just because I have the class. Shoot me. Reaching that far on a 22-LR is hard enough as it is, let alone aiming properly.

Test Results

I figured I walked out of that test with an A. Nope. No A. A big old C.

Yeah I know, what the fuck? That's what I said. So of course I go in to see the TA as soon as I could. We went over the problems. For one of my force calculations I miscalculated 150 time 120. I somehow got that it was 2000. I don't know how but I was off by 200 units, which bent me over, completely. The TA could see that everything else was right, that I knew how to do the calculations, and that if this was a manually graded test he would have totally given me at least 60% for those questions I had missed. Then I got another part where I didn't remember to balance force loads in the X direction. That was kind of silly mistake, but at least I know what the hell I'm doing. I will make this class my bitch. It's so personal, I've recorded all of my TA's office hours.

Anyways, as you'll probably see, I'm typing this very late. This is my break on the shitter, away from my dreaded Capstone project. But despite it being dreaded by so many people, I really have fallen in love with it. I get to create my project. It's like bringing a dream to life. It's a ton of work, but I feel fine thanks to some of that Adderol I've been prescribed. This is one of those times I don't know if I could complete the assignment without its help. With my computer crashing (Booted into Bios and watched my CPU temperature climb from ambient to 109 degrees celcius - For those that aren't familiar with those kinds of numbers, let me tell you, that is absolutely FUCKING insanely hot), unknowingly falling behind in classes, and scrambling to pull files from my desktop hard drives has left me unnerved.

I suppose the class I'm truly falling behind in is one of those, kind of like Capstone, which forces you to figure things out for yourself. Construction Finance. He hands us all a folder which fills the entirety of my backpack, no joke, and I have to make a business plan. Uh... right. I'll get right on it. Just after I master Structures and Capstone with the mild and everlasting ubiquitous fear of Construction Planning and Estimating II.

*Wipes* Well, all done here.

Test Day

In about an hour, I will face the first test of the worst/hardest class I have encountered during my education at the University of Florida. That class... is Structures.

O sure, Structures, sounds like fun. Maybe you'll build something. NO! You won't build anything. And, I'll try not to criticize the teacher on his abilities, but man, I don't get much by sitting in that class. Also, I'd think that after 7 editions they would learn how to make an easier to understand book. Oi.

So go study Garrett! Print out your materials to prepare for the test! Yeah, you got me there. I should be doing that...

...

...

... Ok done.

Now what else is going on in my life?

Let's see, Mom just checked out my blog, and of course was worried about the title. O NO WHAT WILL MY EMPLOYERS THINK!? This is not my business blog, and even if it was I'd turn on privacy for any articles I don't want people to read. Then again, if she even wiki-ed the title she would understand the interesting problem that it's about. Not that this blog has a lot to do with moral hazards, but the wordplay isn't so bad I think. Amoral has to do with not believing in the existence of morality, which could be hazardous as I believe morals play a big role in life.

Moral hazards occur when a party with more information than another party acts in such a way to take advantage of that other party. In a simple example, this could be when I leave my car in a crime ridden area, doors unlocked, practically expecting to have my car jacked. My insurance will take care of it, or they should at least. A less obvious thing that we have been seeing of a lot is the financial side of this problem.

Straight from Wikipedia: Financial bail-outs of lending institutions by governments, central banks or other institutions can encourage risky lending in the future, if those that take the risks come to believe that they will not have to carry the full burden of losses. Lending institutions need to take risks by making loans, and usually the most risky loans have the potential for making the highest return. So called "too big to fail" lending institutions can make risky loans that will pay handsomely if the investment turns out well but will be bailed out by the taxpayer if the investment turns out badly.

Maybe I should just change the name of my blog to bastard strategy. It's practically synonymous. Mom would love that one too.

Straight out of American History X

This is my shaving experience. Jess looks so nice doing it too. Now that I've shaved my face as well, It doesn't look half bad. I would have uploaded this first part, but it's just too big.

Classes R hrd

Lolz tehee shoot me. I rarely use LOL. ANYWAYS, I'm stuck in my structures TAs room still waiting to learn what Shanker was originally trying to teach. I really wish he'd actually show up. Well, at least it gives me time to enjoy my no-knead bread.

More Tests

In search of free v o i p I am left empty handed. But as soon as gizmo 5 comes out i will be able to use v o i p.  In the meantime i am using photoshop To play with my phones capabilities.  The following picture is a nazi-like picture of ben, Which is in sharp contrast to the jewish scarf he was wearing before.

Pic

Harrr

Suck it iFans

So right now i'm talking to my phone. Not typing, just speaking. The nexus 1 transcribes all of my words, and it does a really good job. Well, what happened today?

I enjoyed my classes. But the highlight of my day was when i want to the comic club, or when I baked bread. This time, i used parmesan cheese on the bread.

Well anyways, it's getting late than i should go to bed. Maybe i can upload a picture.